1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to document retrieval, and more particularly to securely and remotely selecting and initiating transmission of electronic documents from one device to another.
2. Description of the Background Art
E-mail transmission of documents from one computer to another is well known. Established network transmission protocols, such as Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP), used in conjunction with Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP), provide mechanisms for attaching files to e-mails for transmission across the Internet.
Existing e-mail client software, such as Microsoft Outlook, provides user interface functionality for selecting files from a user's hard drive, attaching the files to an e-mail message, and initiating transmission of the e-mail message. Referring now to FIGS. 1A through 1C, there is shown an example of a user interface for attaching a file to an e-mail message according to the prior art.
In FIG. 1A, a window 100 is shown for composing an e-mail message. The e-mail message body 102 includes text that the user has typed in. The user clicks on attachment icon 101, designated by a representation of a paper clip, to initiate the process of attaching a file to the e-mail message.
FIG. 1B shows an example of a dialog box 110 that is presented in response to the user clicking on icon 101. Dialog box 110 contains a standard user interface for navigating through a hierarchical file system. The user can select a directory using pulldown menu 113, button 114, and other on-screen controls. In this manner, the user can select among directories, folders, and files that are stored on a local hard drive, or on a network-connected resource such as a file server or another computer on which file sharing has been made available. Pane 111 displays a list of files contained within a current directory. The user selects a file 112 (or several files), for example by clicking with the on-screen cursor. The user clicks on Insert button 112 to cause the selected file or files to be attached to the e-mail message.
Referring now to FIG. 1C, there is shown window 100 after the user has attached a file to the e-mail message. Message body 102 now includes icon 120 representing the attached file. The user can now click on Send button 121 to initiate transmission of the e-mail message to the specified recipient. The attached file will be transmitted along with the text of the message.
The above-described scheme, as well as similar conventional schemes for sending files and documents via e-mail, is subject to significant limitations. In particular, the only files that can be selected for attachment are those that are locally stored or available over a network from a file server or shared file system. Such a limitation engenders significant inconvenience for users when sending e-mails from remote locations, via personal digital assistants (PDAs), or other out-of-office situations.
For example, a user may have a PC at his or her office. While the user is at another location (such as at home, or at a client, or traveling), he or she may wish to transmit a document from the PC to a recipient, for example as an e-mail attachment. Even if the user has access to a network-connected computer or other device, and even if the PC that contains the document file is powered up and network-connected at the time the user wishes to transmit it to the recipient, there is generally no easy way for the user to remotely select and retrieve a document from the PC without having anticipated such a need beforehand and performing relatively burdensome setup operations. For example, a user may set up his or her PC to act as a network server, thus making the contents (or a subset of the contents) of the PC's hard drive available over a network; however, such a solution is cumbersome and difficult for most users, and may also introduce significant security risks. Alternatively, the user may set up file-sharing to make his or her files available over a network; however, such a solution carries additional security risks and may expose the user's hard drive to access or tampering by unauthorized users.
In addition, many companies have installed network firewalls to guard against unauthorized access to network-connected resources; such firewalls generally block remote access to the devices within the network (including users' PCs). In cases where such a firewall is in place, users generally cannot remotely access files on their PCs without deactivating or reconfiguring the firewall.
One solution to the above-described problem is for the user to have all their files available locally at all times. Such a solution is theoretically possible, as the user may copy all of his or her data to a portable machine such as a laptop computer or a personal digital assistant (PDA) and carry the portable machine containing all the files, wherever the user goes. However, such a technique imposes significant overhead, is burdensome in that it requires the user to continually keep the portable documents updated, and can result in errors if the portable versions of documents fall out of sync with the versions stored on the non-portable PC (for example, if the stored documents are modified after they have been copied onto the portable device). Many portable devices have insufficient storage capacity to store a large number of documents as a user may have on his or her PC. Furthermore, the portable machine may be lost, stolen, or damaged during travel, potentially resulting in data loss and/or unauthorized access to the user's data by anyone who steals or finds the device. Finally, such a technique requires that the user anticipate his or her document needs, which is not always feasible or possible.
What is needed is a technique for allowing a user to remotely and securely select and initiate transmission of files on his or her PC, from virtually any network-connected location. What is further needed is a technique that allows such remote operations even when a firewall is in place. What is further needed is a technique of, from a remote computer, initiating e-mail transmission of files from one location to another.